Andrew Lang facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Andrew Lang FBA
Born	(1844-03-31)31 March 1844 Selkirk, Selkirkshire, Scotland
Died	20 July 1912(1912-07-20) (aged 68) Banchory, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Occupation	Poet novelist literary critic anthropologist
Alma mater	University of St Andrews Balliol College, Oxford
Period	19th century
Genre	Children's literature
Spouse	Leonora Blanche Alleyne ​ (m. 1875)​

Andrew Lang (born March 31, 1844 – died July 20, 1912) was a Scottish writer. He was a poet, wrote novels, and was a literary critic. He also studied different cultures and human societies. He is most famous for collecting and editing many fairy tales and folklore stories. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.

About Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang was born in 1844 in Selkirk, Scottish Borders, Scotland. He was the oldest of eight children. His father, John Lang, was the town clerk of Selkirk.

In 1875, he married Leonora Blanche Alleyne. She played a very important role in his famous "Lang's Color/Rainbow Fairy Books". While Andrew Lang edited these books, his wife and a team of helpers did most of the work, like translating and writing down the stories.

He went to school at Selkirk Grammar School, Loretto School, and the Edinburgh Academy. He also studied at the University of St Andrews and Balliol College, Oxford. He became a very talented writer, working as a journalist, poet, critic, and historian. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1906.

Andrew Lang passed away on July 20, 1912, at a hotel in Banchory, Scotland. He was buried in St Andrews.

His Work and Studies

Fairy Tales and Folklore

"Rumpelstiltskin", by Henry Justice Ford from Lang's Fairy Tales

Lang is best known for his books about folklore, mythology, and religion. He was interested in folklore from a young age.

One of his most famous works is The Blue Fairy Book (1889). It was a beautifully made book with lovely illustrations. This book became a classic and was followed by many other collections of fairy tales. These are known as Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. In one of his later books, The Lilac Fairy Book, he clearly said that his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne, did most of the translating and writing for these collections.

Studying Ancient Stories

Lang also worked on translating ancient Greek stories. He helped translate Homer's Odyssey (1879) and Iliad (1883) into English. These translations are still known for their unique and appealing style. He also wrote books about Homer and Greek myths, comparing them to stories from other cultures.

As a Historian

Andrew Lang at work

Andrew Lang also wrote a lot about Scottish history. He was very careful with details and had a clear writing style. He wrote about Mary, Queen of Scots, looking at new information and defending her.

He also wrote about King James VI and other historical mysteries. His book John Knox and the Reformation (1905) caused some debate because of how he described John Knox. He started a big project called A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation in 1900.

Other Writings

Lang's first published book was The Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), which was a collection of poems. He published several other poetry books over the years.

He was also a busy journalist, writing for newspapers and editing Longman's Magazine. He was a popular critic, writing articles and introductions for new books. He also edited the poems of Robert Burns and wrote about the lives of other famous writers.

Works

To 1884

Blue plaque, 1 Marloes Road, Kensington, London

The prince thanking the Water Fairy, image from The Princess Nobody (1884), illustrated by Richard Doyle, engraved and coloured by Edmund Evans

• The Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872)
• The Odyssey of Homer Rendered into English Prose (1879) (translated with Samuel Henry Butcher)
• XXXII Ballades in Blue China (1880)
• Oxford. Brief historical & descriptive notes (1880)
• The Library: with a chapter on modern illustrated books (1881)
• Helen of Troy, her life and translation. Done into rhyme from the Greek books (1882)
• The Iliad of Homer, a prose translation (1883) (translated with Walter Leaf and Ernest Myers)
• Custom and Myth (1884)
• The Princess Nobody: A Tale of Fairyland (1884)
• Ballads and Verses Vain (1884)
• Rhymes à la Mode (1884)

1885–1889

• Books and Bookmen (1886)
• Letters to Dead Authors (1886)
• Myth, Ritual and Religion (2 vols., 1887)
• Johnny Nut and the Golden Goose (1887) (translated from the French of Charles Deulin)
• Grass of Parnassus. Rhymes old and new (1888)
• Prince Prigio (1889)
• The Blue Fairy Book (1889) (illustrations by Henry J. Ford)
• Letters on Literature (1889)

1890–1899

The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Longman Green & co., London 1898

• The Red Fairy Book (1890)
• The World's Desire (1890) (with H. Rider Haggard)
• Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody (1890)
• The Blue Poetry Book (1891)
• Essays in Little (1891)
• The Green Fairy Book (1892)
• The True Story Book (1893)
• Homer and the Epic (1893)
• Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia (1893)
• The Yellow Fairy Book (1894)
• Ban and Arrière Ban (1894)
• Cock Lane and Common-Sense (1894)
• The Red True Story Book (1895)
• My Own Fairy Book (1895)
• A Monk of Fife (1895)
• The Animal Story Book (1896)
• The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (1896) (editor)
• The Life and Letters of John Gibson Lockhart (1896) (two volumes)
• Pickle the Spy; or the Incognito of Charles (1897)
• The Nursery Rhyme Book (1897)
• The Pink Fairy Book (1897)
• A Book of Dreams and Ghosts (1897)
• The Arabian Nights Entertainments (1898)
• The Making of Religion (1898)
• The Red Book of Animal Stories (1899)
• Parson Kelly (1899) (co-written with A. E. W. Mason)
• The Homeric Hymns (1899) (translator)

1900–1909

• The Grey Fairy Book (1900)
• Prince Charles Edward (1900)
• A History of Scotland – From the Roman Occupation (1900–1907) (four volumes)
• Magic and Religion (1901)
• Adventures Among Books (1901)
• The Crimson Fairy Book (1903)
• The Mystery of Mary Stuart (1901, new and revised ed., 1904)
• The Book of Romance (1902)
• James VI and the Gowrie Mystery (1902)
• The Violet Fairy Book (1901)
• The Valet's Tragedy (1903)
• Social Origins (1903) (with Primal Law by James Jasper Atkinson)
• The Brown Fairy Book (1904)
• Historical Mysteries (1904)
• The Secret of the Totem (1905)
• New Collected Rhymes (1905)
• John Knox and the Reformation (1905)
• Homer and His Age (1906)
• The Red Romance Book (1906)
• The Orange Fairy Book (1906)
• The Portraits and Jewels of Mary Stuart (1906)
• Life of Sir Walter Scott (1906)
• The Story of Joan of Arc (1906)
• Tales of a Fairy Court (1907)
• The Olive Fairy Book (1907)
• Tales of Troy and Greece (1907)
• The Book of Princes and Princesses (1908)
• The Maid of France, being the story of the life and death of Jeanne d'Arc (1908)
• The Red Book of Heroes (1909)

1910–1912

• The Lilac Fairy Book (1910)
• The World of Homer (1910)
• The All Sorts of Stories Book (1911)
• The Book of Saints and Heroes (1912)
• A History of English Literature (1912)

Posthumous

• Highways and Byways in The Border (1913) (with John Lang)
• The Strange Story Book (1913) (with Mrs. Lang)

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books

Andrew Lang edited 25 collections of stories that were published every year. They started with The Blue Fairy Book in 1889 and ended with The Strange Story Book in 1913. These are often called Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. The "Coloured Fairy Books" are 12 books within this larger series.

See Also

In Spanish: Andrew Lang para niños